I'm greatfull such an important question was finally asked. In aikido which is a self defence martial art stresses that to overcome your fears you must first control breath. This particular discipline relies on breath power rather then muscle power to repel the threat. I personally believe that to breath deeply is to think deeply and to relax deeply.

When you practice meditation, the heart rate usually slows and breathing too. This is because meditation is achieved when you're not focusing on nothing but emptiness. Meditation is emptying the mind of all content, thought, feeling, everything you known. Then the body is isolated of mental process and hence becomes slower. On a normal day, it is difficult to maintain a constant rate of respiration by the daily turmoil of everyday life ... up and down stairs, running to catch a taxi, etc. In football there is a technique that improves performance and is to inhale and exhale 2 times , but it is difficult to apply this type of breathing in the day by day.Certainly in a good breathing technique is the key to better performance in all aspects of life, because a well oxygenated brain works seamlessly.

when you go to sleep do you use a breathing technique? where does the wind come from and where does it go? where does a fire go when it has gone out? is not breathing natural? if you stay calm and focus will it not come of its own accord? why always try to make things complicated? even complicated things are made of simple things. if you slow down breath the heart beat also slow down. if you run the breating goes up and so does the heart. when you drive a car and put it in park to get out do you wounder how much air does the car take to mix with the fuel? experience and enjoy.

For me focusing on breathing keeps me in the here and now. It also calms my mind and lets me relax better, opening up my allowing channels. Maybe, since breathing is usually in the domain of the subconscious mind, it gets the subconscious's attention and makes integration easier.

Have done Pranayama (Breath of Fire) in a Kundalini Yoga session (3HO Foundation), but found it distracting. Also need to have a box of Kleenex handy!

Another breath I like is to

1. Breathe in to a count of four, while visualizing a cloud of light forming and coalescing above my head.

2. Hold for a count of eight, intensifying the light.

3. Breathe out to a count of sixteen, seeing the light descending and beginning to envelop my body, slowly, until at the last of the count, it just reaches my toes and I am completely enveloped. Pushing that last little bit of air out at 16 is very intense.

repeat no more than five cycles.

I use heartbeats to count. If this is too strenuous, I use 2-4-8 count. It gives me very high energy. I often do this before my morning exercise session.